Ever faced situations like your flight getting delayed or cancelled or even denied boarding? Do you know you can claim a hefty compensation from the airline companies if your flight get cancelled or delayed?

Cancelling a flight or denying boarding to a flier can cost heavily to domestic airlines as the guidelines by the aviation regulator DGCA provides for massive compensation in such cases.

Who is responsible for regulating the air transport services and air safety issues?
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation!
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation primarily dealing with safety issues also responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards. It also co-ordinates all regulatory functions with International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Last year, around August, the India Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised compensation guidelines for cancelling a flight or denying boarding to a flier.

The guidelines says:An airline will have to pay up to Rs 10,000 to a passenger if a flight is cancelled or delayed beyond two hours, while the compensation for not allowing a passenger to board the flight is up to Rs 20,000. Today, airlines only offer up to Rs 4,000 for both denied boarding and a cancelled flight.In case the passenger does not opt for an alternate flight, refund of full value of ticket and compensation equal to 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of Rs 20,000, will have to be paid to the flier.

Airlines shall pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 or booked one-way basic fare plus fuel charge, whichever is less, for cancelled/ delayed flights having a block time of up to one hour in addition to refund of ticket, in case a flier has not been informed by the carrier, as per the DGCA norms. In the case of an airline cancelling/delaying its flight over one hour but up to two hours the compensation amount will be Rs 7,500 or booked one-way basic fare plus fuel charge, whichever is less, besides the refund amount, according to the revised norms.An amount of Rs 10,000 or booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less, will be the compensation for flights having a block time of more than two hours, according to the new compensation norms.

What is Block Hours ?
Block hours refer to the period of time when an aircraft pushes back from its departure gate till the moment it reaches the arrival gate. These hours are used to calculate an airline’s on-time performance (OTP) besides determining the compensation in the eventuality of a flight getting cancelled or delayed.

What happened in case of denied boarding?

In case of denied boarding, the airline will have to pay an amount equal to 200 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000, in case airline arranges alternate flight that is scheduled to depart within 24 hours of the booked scheduled departure, as per the revised norms.
An amount equal to 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000, will have to be paid to a flier in case airline arranges alternate flight that is scheduled to depart beyond 24 hours of the booked scheduled departure, as per the revised norms.

What happens when the passenger does not want to opt for any alternative flight?

In case passenger does not opt for alternate flight, refund of full value of ticket and compensation equal to 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of Rs 20,000, will have to be paid to a flier, it said.
Now you know wherever you face these kind of situations how much compensation you can claim and you are entitled to get.

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